Naked Brand @ The AGA With ACE

Beks — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:01:53 +0000

The Naked Brand talk was one of the Ad Week events put on by the Advertising Club of Edmonton. I walked into a sort of posh set up (hey, the napkins were black!) in the meeting space under Zinc. Zinc gave us a little treat that made me feel like a kid again – mystery lunch boxes in labelless brown boxes.

Jeff Rosenblum’s from New York and looks like a real “ad man”. His talk was interesting from a guy who though looks the part, says he just fell into advertising.

Jeff was asking us to redefine what advertising means. Jeff says advertising is more obtrusive than ever, expensive, and leaves us with a bunch of unhappy people. He wants us to shift; to commit to helping our clients to build better products, provide better service, and be better employers rather than spending more on sexy ads.

The last case study he featured about Zappos’ corporate culture was especially close to my heart because of my work at TransparentC. I’d love it if more ad people worked with their clients on their internal brand. I’d be more proud of our industry and ultimately, a happier consumer.

We need a few pioneers. A few people that get it. Not to chase the money, but because we want to help organizations that we market (and that we buy from) be more truthful.

Dukes of Edmonton @ 29 Armstrong

Beks — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:08:26 +0000

You somehow feel more legit when you’re participating in a scotch tasting wearing a bow-tie. January 14th at 29 Armstrong had more than enough to fuel the A.D.D. of some of Edmonton’s 25 – 40 year old entrepreneurs, media, design, and marketing guys. The night had a lighthearted agenda with plenty of scotch to try, a shaving demonstration by Edmonton’s new Barber Ha and we even got a crazy group picture to prove that we probably retained nothing we heard.

29 Armstrong’s incredibly posh furniture, and other “objects of wonder” ripened our desire to discover and learn, as most of us learned how to tie a bow tie for the first time taught by the talented Mr. Brechtel. He freely gave away his signature look, and his graduated students even received a limited, hand-made pocket square.

Special Thanks for Michael for organizing a great night for us to talk shop, bow ties, scotch, and exfoliating our skin before we shave. Thanks to Amedeo for setting us up in his incredible store. Here’s to the Dukes!

November 25: Social Media Breakfast #12

Beks — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:57:32 +0000

I was invited by my good friend Jen from Ronald McDonald House to the Social Media Breakfast in October. I couldn’t make it and she was bragging about how great it was and I was sad I missed out.

I dragged my @ss to this one and was completely floored. The content was incredibly valuable. Dana DiTamaso presented on effective social media strategy. I know what you’re thinking…another social media strategy presentation – waa waa. You’re wrong. Terribly wrong! Dana’s content was refreshing, funny, and useful. It isn’t stuff you’ve heard – in fact if you saw her presentation you’d be able to apply it to your business immediately. Get up and go stuff! Someone stood up and said that they’ve paid a ton of money to hear social media experts speak in the US and said Dana’s presentation was the most valuable by far. Check it out.

November 24: SEBA’s Movember Mixer

Beks — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:57:11 +0000

Thanks to the generous, good souls of SEBA (South Edmonton Business Association) and Century Grill, Edmonton’s business crowd can show off their grills for Movember. Tickets are $20 – not bad considering it’s all for a good cause and you get your first mo-cktail free. Get your tickets here.

November 19 – Refinery at the AGA

Beks — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:27:56 +0000

Refinery is one of the best up and coming traditions in Edmonton. It’s easily one of my favourite events – the combination of beautiful people and eye-opening art is addictive. The AGA makes it so easy to get into the culture, even if you’re not an art aficionado with some arts and craft sessions. Tickets sell quickly, so keep your eyes open or consider becoming an AGA member.

Word Camp! November 18 and 19

Beks — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:46:38 +0000

Really luck that my buddies from Media-Masters hooked me up with an extra ticket to WordCamp. Thought I would feel like a fish out of water, but so far it’s been good for a guy who is a non-designer, non-programmer.

It’s being held at the Shaw Conference Centre November 18th and 19th

Get In the Passenger Seat: Let the Customer Drive

Beks — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 16:48:57 +0000

Marketing Driven Versus Product Driven

At the start of our consumption culture, we had inventors of new products. They would think of something that would make life easier or better and invent it: a washing machine, a power saw, a battery…

Companies would form around these products, building out a manufacturing capacity, hiring a sales team or setting up distributors. They started selling their products in volume. Marketing’s main role was to promote the product that the company built. They needed to generate demand to match the production.

Of course, others see the potential of those products, and join the market as competition. As a result, the market becomes flooded with products that are seemingly the same. Marketing’s new challenge is to get consumers’ attention before someone else does, and convince them that they need their product and it is better than others. Marketing’s main role now is to get your attention.

Then something refreshing happened.

Today, there are so many choices and ways that we can spend the cash in our wallets and because there is an overabundance, the companies building the products gave up power to the consumer. Once again, marketing’s role changes. They need to determine what products the customer wants, then tell companies what to produce, accordingly. In a sense, marketing changes sides and takes on the side of the consumer, promoting their needs and wants.

As a business, you must decide whether your company is product driven (build then market) or be market driven (market then build). If you’re going to do the latter, good news: there are dozens of tools you can use to extract the information you need in order to start figuring out what to build. It is easier than ever to be marketing driven and consumer-centric.

Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk via Flickr.

Great Example of Emotional Connection

Beks — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 21:04:40 +0000

I thought this video captured a great example of experiential marketing. If your brand can make people smile, then you’ve made that emotional connection that your customers crave. Enjoy!

The Opportunity of Experience

Beks — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 21:37:33 +0000

A bit cliché, but we need to stop and smell the roses now and then. The theory goes like this; We’re getting busier everyday, cramming everything we can in our waking hours – soccer practice, swimming lessons, and board meetings. All these things, and we’re missing out on life! Technology doesn’t help – it’s making it worse. I have three email addresses. I have a smart phone hooked up to twitter and three Facebook accounts.

As the theory goes, we either snap or we starve ourselves so much, we put too much pressure on those small moments of life that we actually have.

If you agree with me, then think about this:

When I work with a client, I try to work with them to think through experience. Their employees’ experience and their customers’ experience. How do we turn the one moment we have with a customer or employee into something that is out of the ordinary? Remember, that brief interaction we have with them is one of many that they’ll have in that day.

Marketing people say that you should give customers a “remarkable” experience, but it doesn’t need to be that grandiose. It can be more simple. It can be small and beautiful; a reminder that you need to stop and take it in.

Think about it. Whatever you decide to do can change the game, especially if you pay attention to something that is overlooked. That little thing you do will be noticed and talked about

Photo courtesy of CoanriRita via Flickr.

Sales Secret: Evolve To Solve “On-The-Fringe” Issues

beks — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 01:02:59 +0000

We love hearing stories about brands and people doing generous things for others.

Generation “G” (G for generosity) is here to stay!

When I think of generosity and often when Generation “G” is referenced, it’s speaking to the idea of helping or being helpful.

We’re seeing this trend manifest itself in marketing in a big way. Blogging, social media, and sales efforts that are focused on helping (a.k.a adding value) are more effective than traditional “selling”.

Good key messages have generosity built into their structure. A good key message addresses a customer need in an authentic way which is unique to a brand. We need to take this a bit further. We often only focus on solving needs in our specific product or service category. What if it’s on the fringe?

Often customers need you to help them solve a problem loosely related to a service you provide.

Here are some quick examples of how a company would help with a “fringe” need:

A collision repair shop providing an emergency hotline for people to call when they are involved in a car accident.
Apartment rental companies providing financial planning for people who need help managing life expenses.
An IT company helping their clients select and purchase technology for their home office.

Think about re-tooling sales teams to be “aid” teams. Sometimes your customers struggle with a complementary service or product. If you can help, you might be signing on a client for life.